The Son of Zeus
by jpguti123
Summary: This short story is about Corinthus, an average American teenager. He just moved to Queens from Los Angeles with his single mother. He has trouble in school because of his ADHD and dsylexia. He has a hard time at home because he does not have a father. This story, narrated by Cori, is about his journeys as the Son of Zeus in and out of Camp Half Blood.


Apparently, my whole life up to my 13th birthday had been a complete lie…

Let me tell you about it, it was any other Friday...

The sunlight somehow managed to seep through the curtain glaring straight into my eyes. I hate it here in Queens. We moved here last week from California, because of my mom's work. Boxes everywhere, I can't find anything, I want to die.

Anyways, ever since we moved to Queens last week, I've been having these super realistic dreams. Last night, I had a dream that I couldn't awake from. I was running in the woods, with a sword and a shield in hand, random I know. This girl was running along with me, she had long brown hair and this very interesting shade of hazel colored eyes.

"Keep going, we're almost there!" she shouted at me.

Suddenly an ear-splitting snarl rang throughout my cranium, and it was coming from ahead.

"Don't stop, head towards the Rock, James, and Sammy will let us in!"

Finally, I mustered enough courage to speak, "Who's James and Sammy, and where the heck am I?"

Then I heard screaming and I turned around to find that the girl had disappeared. I knew at that moment, that I was alone with whatever killed her.

I woke up back to reality to my mom screaming from downstairs,

"Cori come down, your breakfast is getting cold." I looked at the clock and it was 7:45, I knew I was going to be late to school.

I had 8 minutes to change, eat, and run to the bus stop.

"Corinthus Xavier.." she began.

I stopped her there "I'm coming."

I went downstairs, grabbed some toast and ran out the door.

"Love you mom, see you later."

Or so I thought...

First and second period flew by like _that._ During 3rd period Ancient Literature, Mrs. Grace was explaining how the Odyssey was a paradox of some sort. I couldn't really understand anything she was saying, and then she called me to read. The problem is, I am dyslexic.

"Well Mr. Boldt, we don't have all day now." she said with an attitude.

Shaking with fear I opened my mouth to begin to read when the intercom buzzed.

"Corinth…I mean Cori please report to the principal's office."

That was weird; no one knows my full name besides my mother. Mrs. Grace excused me from the class. I walked into the office and sighed of relief. All the faculty was acting like they were in a trance of some sort. Their faces were blank and lifeless. Mrs. Browning was typing but the computer was off and Mr. Rodosta was pouring coffee into a mug but there was no mug. They all acted kind of slow like they were in a spell. I opened the principal's door and the chair quickly swiveled around. It was a teenage boy, with an orange shirt on saying Camp Half Blood.

"Welcome Corinthus, how are you? Take a seat, relax. I know this move has put a lot of stress on you."

"Uhhhh who are you? Where is the principal?" I uttered nervously.

"My name is Augustus, just your friendly average satyr." he chuckled.

As I turned towards the door, he shouted.

"Wait! Stay let me explain."

He put a golden goblet on the table.

"Now what is your favorite drink?" he said excitedly.

I had no idea what was going on here, but I was parched.

I remember spending my days in California on the beach shores with my friends drinking Virgil's Root Beer. We would spend our days swimming, playing, and being adventurous. At the end of our excursion we would watch the sunset and talk about how good we have it while sipping on Virgil's. This thought hurt me literally.

"Root Beer..." I mumbled.

The goblet filled up with foamy sassafrass, filling the room with a pleasant odor.

I took the goblet and chugged the Root Beer. It not only quenched my thirst, but also my mind. I suddenly was not missing California as much.

"How do you feel?" he said eagerly.

"Fine, I guess." I responded.

The grogginess set in, I was lightheaded and I began to picture that Augustus had goat horns and legs. Then I was out.

I saw little glimpses of light every 5 minutes and the sunlight was extremely bright. Finally, I fully opened my eyes to find that I was no longer in the principal's office, but in a tent made from white canvas. Augustus sat beside me eating tin cans and talking to another creature that looked just like him; same type of legs, and horns.

"Ahh you're awake" he said.

"Where am I?" I inquired.

I felt a surge of energy in my body, so I stood up and stretched.

"Cori meet Grover, he's like me, we're satyrs!" Augustus said joyfully.

"Glad another camper joined, you'll like it here." Grover exclaimed.

I wondered what he meant by camper. I carefully examined Augustus; he was wearing that Camp-Half Blood shirt.

"Grover I'll catch up with you later man okay?" Augustus said.

"Yeah dude no worries, got a new camper of my own to take care of."

Augustus and I walked outside of the tent. My eyes were amazed, before me a whole camp literally. Lakes, cabins, an amphitheater, gardens, volleyball courts, basketball courts, football fields, meadows with flowers. You name it, this camp had it. In the middle of it all was a big blue house that had a wrap around porch. On the porch, I noticed Grover talking to another boy with dark hair, blue eyes, and a lot of wounds; he said, "Welcome to Camp-Half Blood, Percy!"

Half blood. Half blood. I knew I have heard that word before. Then it hit me. My Greek mythology book, it mentioned something about how the gods and goddesses reproduced with mortals and their offspring were called half bloods.

I asked Augustus, "So everyone here is an offspring of you know like Zeus, Poseidon, Hermes?"

"Most of the campers are but we do have satyrs, naiads, and nymphs." he responded.

"Wow, then what am I doing here? My parents aren't gods."

Augustus seemed puzzled."Cori, I know you have a mom but when was the last time you've seen your dad?"

"He left my mom before I was born. I never really knew him."

Augustus stood thinking, " Chiron told me to bring you here, and if you were not a half-blood, you wouldn't have been able to pass through the barrier."

"What barrier?" I asked.

"There is an invisible barrier that only lets half-bloods, satyrs, and nymphs into the camp, it keeps out all humans, monsters, and animals."

"Monsters?" I said nervously.

"Of course, how do you think all those past heroes have died, they were killed by monsters! There are all sorts of those things, hydras, serpents, cyclopes, hellhounds, furies, Minotaur; the list goes on and on." he said with a straight face.

"That's really going to help me sleep at night."

We walked some more across the bridge and through the fields. As we circled back around, now heading towards the big house, that Percy boy was walking out with Grover.

A horse man thing exited the house and said "Corinthus welcome! My name is Chiron. I am in charge of Camp Half Blood. Well let's get you squared away, since you have not been claimed we will put you in the Hermes cabin because that god is always "busy."

I was pointed in the direction I was to go. The Hermes cabin looked old, and rusted. I walked in and was greeted with a nice fart from an overgrown child sleeping in a bunk.

"Cori?"

"Yeah that's me."

The boy was tall, with sand-colored hair; he had a scar going across his cheek.

"My name is Luke, I am the Hermes cabin director. Any questions so far?"

"It is just a lot to take in, I have no idea what is really going on. Are the people here really offspring of gods?"

" Yup. The gods and goddesses reproduced with mortals, and their offspring are spread throughout the country. It is the jobs of the satyrs to go and find the half bloods and bring them here."

"Okay, why are all the cabins different then, is each one for a different god?" I asked.

"It's not too complicated, there are 12 cabins, one dedicated to each of the major gods and goddesses. Cabins 1, 2, 3 are dedicated to Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. No one lives in those cabins because the Big 3 made a pact to stop having children with mortals. 4 is Aphrodite, 5 is Hermes, 6 is Dionysus, 7 is Apollo, 8 is Artemis, 9 is Demeter, 10 is Ares, 11 is Hephaestus, 12 is Athena."

I stood there in silence.

"Who is my parent?" I said.

"You have not been claimed yet Cori, but hopefully it is not Hermes, he is the worst!" Luke snapped. Voices were outside shouting "Dinner, Dinner, come eat!"

All the Hermes kids filed into a straight line and walked out the door. While walking to the pavilion, I saw all of the other campers. I could tell which were Aphrodite's descendants because they could not keep themselves away from their mirrors. Ares's kids were big and strong with many scars. The Athena offspring were deep thinkers you could tell by the way the looked around. Apollo's cabin was comprised of tall kids with blonde hair, perfect teeth.

Dinner was a madhouse. There were 12 long tables with goblets for each camper. Once everyone was seated, nymphs brought out clean plates with no food. A plate was placed in front of me.

I closed my eyes and thought to myself, "Where is the food, this day keeps getting weirder, I just want some barbeque."

As I opened my eyes, ribs were on my plate drenched in finger licking barbecue sauce. It was served with corn and mash potatoes. I sat next to Percy. He was very cool but shy. He has dyslexia and ADHD like me. He was exactly like me; we had no idea who our parent wass. We were told to offer some of our food to the gods by placing some in the fire. You are supposed to say the name of your parent as you scrape the food into the flames. I watched as the other Hermes kids went up, then it was my turn.

I went up, I whispered, "I do not know who you are but please help me!"

After dinner, we enjoyed some hot fudge sundaes by the firepit. The Apollo kids serenaded us with their charming voices.

"Campers, time for bed shouted!" shouted Chiron. On our way back to the dimly lit Hermes cabin, thunder and lightning filled the sky. The thunder roared and the lighting screamed with light. The campers began to run, when the earth shook. Everyone fell to the ground, holding for dear life.

"Corinthus!" was echoed throughout the sky. As I looked around, the campers looked at me with faces of astonishment. I looked up and saw a lightning bolt hovering over my head.

The someone shouted from the crowd "You have been claimed, Corinthus son of Zeus!" Everyone applauded and cheered. I stood there frozen in shock, could it be true, was I the son of Zeus?


End file.
